biological treatments of ODC - ao3

Question 1

limitation of biologial treatments - treating symtoms and not the cause

Answer 1

P- drug treatments critised for treating symptoms of ocd and not the cause
E- although ssris work by increasing levels of serotonin in the brain which reduce anxiety and alleviates symptoms it doesnt treat the underlying cause
E- furtermore once a patient stops taking the drug they are prone to relapse
L- THUS KORAN et al 2007 suggests that psychological treatments like cbt may be a more effective long term solution to proving lasting treatmets and potential cure

Question 2

strengthof drug therapy - preferable to other treatments

Answer 2

P- a adv of drug therapy is that it req little input from user in terms of effort and time
E - in contrast therapies like cbt equire the patient to attend reg meetings and put considerable thought in tackling the problem
E- DRUG therapies are also cheaper for nhs bc they req lil monitoring and cost much less than psychological treatments
L- these benefits mean that drug theraies are more economical for the health service and also more attractive to patients than psychological therapues often makig them the more populr choice all the way round

Question 3

limitations od bio treat for ocd is side effects

Answer 3

P- a limiation of drug therapeies is their side effects some more severe than others
E- eg some common side effects of ssris are nausea, headaches and insomnia as reported by soomro et al 2008
some possble side effects of bz include increased agression and impairent of memory
E- In addition there are issues with addiction to bz so intake only limitd to 4 weeks
L- consequently although side effets are not all hugey servere it can lead to patients not wantimg to take them. this coupled risk of adiction limits its usefulness for drug treatments for ocd

Question 4

strength of ssris - research support

Answer 4

P- one strength of biological treatments for ocd comes from research support for their effectiviness
E- randomised drug trials compared effectiveness of ssris and a placebo
E- soomro et al 2008 conducted a review of research examining effectivness of ssris and founf they were sig more effective than placebos in the treatmentof ocd across 17 different trials
L- this supports the use of biological treatments esp ssris for ocd however studes such as this are criticsced for only concluding short term effectivness of drug treatments with long term effects still under empirical investigation